I own a Kodak Ektalux flashgun with the syncro-switch and a solenoid flash cord. I recently bought batteries and attempted to work the flash. When i press the solenoid button, the solenoid trips but the flashbulb doesn't fire. I opened it up and all of the wiring appeared intact. I tried my entire bulb collection of #25, 5B, and #40 bulbs. None worked.

Hey there. My Ektalux no longer works properly, either. It did when I first bought it -- only about four or five years ago -- but now doesn't.

I don't use it as a solenoid tripper, though.

I suspect there might be a open circuit in the capacitor, maybe. (Some capacitors do this as they age, and these are pushing 50 years old, if a day.)

This bad-"cap" explanation would be feasible IF the Ektalux is wired so the solenoid jack receives voltage straight from the batteries while the voltage to the bulb holder must travel throught the capacitor.

If this is the case, it would explain both our non-flashing Ektalux units.

Having never opened up my Ektalux, though, I have no idea how it's wired inside and this is pure supposition.

You're right. The solenoid travels an almost nearly direct route to the solenoid connector through only one of the capacitors. Judging by the way the wiring is set up, the flash goes through both. I'm a little bit frightened to switch out anything in this myself.

If you can find a copy of an old Kodak data book: "Use, Maintenance, and Repair of Professional Equipment", you'll find a section devoted to the care, problem diagnosis and maintenance of the Ektalux flash systems. It was part of the Kodak Professional Handbook.

And, if you're afraid of the Ektalux capacitors [I would be too], wait until you see the warnings in there about working on a Kodatron Studio Speedlamp!

Well, he managed to fix the flash but now the solenoid doesn't work. The solenoid-sync cord disentegrated. Literally, it became a fine copper powder. So now, I have a working OPEN flash. Problem two...I need an Ektalux-to-Solenoid or Ektalux-to-Shutter cord. I've been watching ebay and there seems to be a lack of anything ektalux related.

On 2004-03-30 06:15, office888 wrote:
Well, he managed to fix the flash but now the solenoid doesn't work. The solenoid-sync cord disentegrated. Literally, it became a fine copper powder. So now, I have a working OPEN flash. Problem two...I need an Ektalux-to-Solenoid or Ektalux-to-Shutter cord. I've been watching ebay and there seems to be a lack of anything ektalux related.